After You're Gone
by thelittlepalmtree
Summary: Germany and Hungary have to find a way to deal with life after Prussia's dead, Hungary especially. Warning: Crack, if you liked my other fic, Second chance, that doesn't mean you'll necessarily like this one. Sequel to second chance. T for language
1. Chapter 1

**_So sorry if I made you cry for second chance :D but that actually makes me very happy. The sequel hopefully won't make you cry...except maybe for how bad it is. Anyway, I'd love constructive criticism if you've got some, or you might just think I'm perfect which I am *strikes a pose*. Either way please review and such 3 enjoy~ _**

Ludwig shifted a bit. He'd dressed too lightly after all, the chilly November air pierced through to his skin. His breath came out in white clouds. It reminded him of when he used to smoke. He crossed his arms over his chest.

_Ten years. _

He looked at the grave. Had it really been so long? It seemed like yesterday that his brother had been laughing and drinking. God, how he missed that smile, those mocking red eyes. It seemed so impossible that he could exist without them. Ludwig had lost more than just a brother, but a father, a friend, a mentor, a teacher, a damn pain in the ass. He sighed. That ache, that loss, it was beginning to ease. He looked around. She should be here soon. Oh, there she was.

Elizaveta walked towards him, holding a bouquet of tulips. She smiled cheerily at Ludwig, "Szia!"

"Hallo, Elizaveta," He bowed a bit at the waist. She was just as happy as always. At first he had hated her for being able to smile after his brother was dead. Then he hated her for moving on too quickly. Then he "got over it", meaning he stopped caring.

She nodded in response. "It's a bit cold, isn't it?" She said, standing next to him. She bowed her head and placed the flowers on the soft grass beneath their feet.

"Winter's coming early I guess."

"So much for global warming."

Somehow things always seemed to get awkward at this point. Ludwig wasn't very good at small talk, and Elizaveta was always making some sarcastic comment he didn't know how to respond to. When Gilbert had been there it was easy to keep a conversation going no matter who was involved. He'd been younger then too, and like most young children, he would be content to sit in Elizaveta's lap and call her "big sister."

"So," He said after a moment, "Are you still with Herr Österreich?" Somehow the question sounded harsher than he'd intended.

"No," She said, her smiling faltering a bit, "We broke up again…"

_Who'd he cheat with this time? _Ludwig was tempted to say. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," She sighed, "We'll probably get together again soon."

"Ja," He tried not to seem too skeptical. She knew what she was doing. She must really love that guy if she let him treat her like this. It wasn't like she didn't have other options.

"Well anyway," She gave him a tentative hug. "Nice seeing you, Ludwig."

"Ja," He pat her head, knowing she hated that, "Nice seeing you too Fraulin."

She wrinkled her nose, then smile, "I still can't get over how much you've grown, even now." She laughed.

"I know you can't," He smiled a bit, "You say that every time I see you."

"Yes well," She smirked a bit, "I knew you when you were only as tall as my knee."

"Here we go again…" He laughed.

"Fine, I won't tell you the story then." She stuck out her tongue.

"No tell me I want to hear it again."

"Well," She took a deep breath, "Once upon a time…"

"There was a little boy.."

"Shush!"

"Sorry, sorry."

"There was a little boy who had been found by a rather…irresponsible young Prussian. The little boy however, was very responsible, and always ate his vegetables. The two of them were friends with a lovely Hungarian girl who often cooked delicious food for them and taught the little boy games. She and the Prussian often fought, but they always made up," Her eyes became especially soft when she said this, "and they lived quite happily like this for a very long time." She'd changed the original version of "happily ever after" for obvious reasons.

They parted with smiles on their faces, "See you next year." Ludwig smiled.

"_Fraulin…" Ludwig said opening the door of the guest room. _

"_Germany…is that you?" She mumbled sleepily. He just walked up to the edge of the bed, closing the door behind him. _

"_I had a bad dream," He looked up at her with big eyes. His brother was off fighting some war and she'd volunteered to babysit. He expected her to say what his brother said "just get over it and go back to sleep." _

_Instead she held lifted the covers from her mattress. "Want to sleep with me?" _

_His eyes widened, he nodded and climbed onto the bed. His assent was made a bit awkward by the stuffed bear he carried. She wrapped her arms around them both, "Who's this?" she yawned. _

"_Knut," The little boy nestled into the crook of her neck. She patted the bears head. _

"_Szia Knut." _

"…_Fraulin…?" _

"_Yes, mezem?" _

"_I…Knut...he's still scared….could you…maybe tell us a story…?" He looked at her tired face hopefully. _

_She yawned "Once upon a time there was a little boy…" _

Translations 

_Szia-Hi_

_Herr Österreich— Mr. Austria_

_Ja—Yes_

_Fraulin—Miss (as in Miss. Hungary) _

_Mezem—My honey, honey_


	2. Chapter 2

**_Yay for you chapter two~ I've become so desirous of feed back that I've decided to just update daily. Anyway. I'm writing another fic now (don't worry this one's finished) that is pure fluff and crack, even the angst is fluffeh D anyway, it's called Wonderland Records, and if you guys are super depressed by all my deep fics go read that one cause it'll lighten your day^^ I'm also planning on making it a looooot longer, like almost continuous, but the chapters will be shorter. Anyway, i think it'll be a fun little activity and it won't make anyone cry. ^^ As far as this one goes, review, i love feedback and enjoy.  
><em>**

Chapter Two

Ludwig really hated when the meetings were held in London. It wasn't just the people or the food, though both were rather distasteful to him, but that incessant rain! No wonder the Brit was so angry all the time! All he ever saw was rain and clouds. The world was painted gray, no matter where you looked. The German wouldn't consider himself the kind of person who went frolicking in fields of flowers, but it was nice to live in a place that had a bit of color.

So it he really, really hated it when a bolt of lightning hit Heathrow Airport. Now they were all forced to stay another two weeks, well he was. America had his bosses' private jet come pick him and his brother up. Feliciano and Lovino had decided to stay with France and Spain—who were apparently living together now, what a shock—and because it was an EU meeting the only other ones in attendance were from the same general area as himself. That meant He was alone with Russia, the trembling Baltics, Bulgaria, Romania, Austria, and Hungary. _(A/N: Switzerland and Liechtenstein never joined) _

Not to mention they'd all been crowded into the same hotel, the same floor even. Half the night all he could hear was shouting. Sometimes it was Elizaveta and Romania, sometimes the Baltics or Russia yelling at Latvia. Once he heard a fight between Elizaveta and Austria.

"I only ever cheated on you once, and that was with a dying man who didn't even remember his own brother, but somehow remembered me!" Ludwig flinched at this. She wasn't shouting, but she was right outside his door.

"I never said you couldn't do as I do." Austria's voice was icy cold.

"It kills you that I loved him doesn't it?" she growled.

"If it makes you feel better to think that, then yes."

"Why are you doing this?" she was pleading now, "You know I love you! Seretlek! Ich liebe dich! Stop! stop doing this to me!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're always off fucking someone else!" She growled, "At first I thought it was just men, but now _Bella? _I thought she was with Lovino!"

"I don't understand why you're so upset," he spoke as though she were a young child unwilling to share a toy, "Just because I love others doesn't mean I love you any less."

"Yes!" She sobbed, "How can you love me at all when you see how much you're hurting me and you do it anyway!"

He mumbled something so softly that Ludwig couldn't hear it.

"What are you talking about?" Elizaveta whispered, "Are you still mad about that? Can't you forgive me? After all this time, don't you know I'm sorry?"

"Let's just go to sleep," His voice was as calm as ever. She was saying something, but Ludwig guessed it was muffled by his shoulder. Afterwords he felt about listening to their fight, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

I think at this point I should point out that later in life Ludwig would not regret this meeting. In fact, he would look back and think that it was one of the better EU meetings in his life. The reason why shall be presented…well presently.

It was the first day of the second week and Ludwig decided He needed a pint. He really didn't like the English kind, but he hoped one of the bars might carry a German brand. He decided not to drink from the hotel bar, and rather walked ten blocks to the nearest independent one. It was rather empty, probably because it didn't have any sort of health certification posted. When he walked in he noticed cockroaches, cobwebs, and a film of dust over everything, even the tired looking barkeeper.

He would have left right then if not for the one other costumer. She was leaning forward, laughing, even flirting with the hundred-year-old man in front of her. Thankfully neither his hearing, nor his sight were all there. He just handed you a pint if you tapped him on the shoulder. Ludwig sat next to her.

"Eliza—ah!" She had launched herself at him.

"Look!" She said, giggling to the barkeeper, "Look! It's Ludwig!"

He tried to untangle himself from her arms. "Are you alright Fraulin?"

She giggled more, "Nope!"

He wondered if Austria had pushed her to this, "Maybe you shouldn't drink so much…"

She tapped the bartender, and handed the pint to her companion. "Here! This is delicious!"

He took a sip and had to hold back vomit. "Elizaveta, this is disgusting."

She responded by taking the pint and downing it all in one gulp. He noticed five other empty glasses beside her. Nations couldn't die of alcohol poisoning could they?

"I think you should leave." He said, standing.

"I dun wanna," She pouted, clinging to him more tightly.

"Please?"

She didn't seem to be in the mood to comply. He thought, _What would bruder do? _It struck him that maybe it was his duty, in his brother's place, to watch out for her. He then knew exactly what his brother would do. It was a bit embarrassing, but he would do it for his brother.

So he picked her up by the waist, hoisted her over his shoulder, and carried her out of the pitiful excuse for a bar.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Her voice sounded like she was blushing.

"You'll thank me in the morning Fraulin."

They walked a few blocks like that, until he was sure she wouldn't be able to find her way back. He set her on the ground. She was crying.

"What's wrong?" He lowered himself to face her.

She just kept crying. He pushed the hair out of her eyes, "Tell me."

"You took away my booze," She snapped. "You fucker."

He sighed, "I'm sorry, but I didn't want you to kill yourself with all that." Now that they were so close he noted how thin she was.

"What's with this hand?" He said lifting it, "You're just skin-and-and bone!"

"I haven't ingested anything but booze, coffee, and cigarettes in what seems like weeks," She mumbled, she'd stopped crying, "You just took away my main source of calories."

"Maybe you should eat something."

"Maybe you should shove your Samaritan care up your ass."

"What's going on with you?" He frowned, "This really isn't like you."

She glared up at him. "It's none of your fucking business!" She slowly stood up on shaking legs, she walked to the end of the block, then wretched, then kept walking, her whole body swaying.

Ludwig had never really been flirted with and then yelled at by the same woman in the same hour. He quickly caught up to her, "Elizaveta…"

"What?" She turned to glare at him, "What is it you want now?"

"_Usually," Gilbert said, after his frying-pan-wielding friend had stormed away, "When she wants you to 'go away' something's troubling her. She tells you to go away anyway, but when she's shouting it, something's on her brain." _

"_Isn't it just you that applies to?" _

"Why are you acting like this?" He said, catching her wrist. "You can tell me!" He felt a bit cheated. She knew all his fears, she knew him so well that she could tell something was wrong by the way he walked. Somehow, he knew nothing about her.

"It's none of your business!" She growled.

Ludwig regretted what he said next, but he had been very frustrated, angry even, "Is it because you're boyfriend is a slut?"

Her eyes widened, then hardened, she let out a bitter laugh, "Why am I surprised? The whole world is laughing at me, isn't it? Well fuck them all! Fuck you! At least I have someone, how long did it take Italy to get bored of you, hmm?"

He ignored that comment, even though it did hurt, "I'm not laughing, Liza, I'm trying to help." Liza? Where did that come from?

She tried to pull away, but her diet was taking its toll, "Let go!"

He pulled her into an embrace. Honestly she smelled awful, and she looked awful too, but he tried not to let that get to him. She was crying against his shoulder. Then she mumbled, "Don't let me touch you…don't let me near you with my dirty hands…" She pushed him away and he let her go.

She hailed a cab, disappearing inside that black bug. Without warning the sky released it's load, and it was raining again. Ludwig really hated it when meetings were held in London.

_Translations_

_Fraulin-Miss (in case you forgot from last chapter) _

_Seretlek- I love you_

_Ich liebe dich- I love you (if i spelled that wrong please tell me) _


	3. Chapter 3

**_Shield your eyes Q-Q this is just an awful chapter… I really hate this whole story right now. All of it is just evil. Review and such kaythanksbye _**

Chapter three

Elizaveta looked at herself in the mirror. She wondered what she'd done last Night while she was drunk. Weren't men who were supposed to be alcoholics? Well that didn't mean anything did it? Was she even a woman anymore? Did it matter? She'd never be what he wanted...

_I really, really hate you_ she said to the red-eyed girl in the mirror.

And what had she done in England? Why wouldn't Ludwig look her in the eye? Why was she afraid to face him? Why did she shudder when it rained? She sighed and washed her face. Her cell phone was ringing but she didn't care. She turned on the shower and climbed in.

She often thought of that meeting in London. Ludwig may not have known it, but she cared for him much more than her other friends. He was her last link to her old friend, another person abandoned by him. So she didn't want to let him go. Now he wouldn't even look at her. The monthly-changed to monthly because of the economic crisis-EU meetings were hell for her. Once she even sat next to him, but he didn't even spare her a glance.

She stepped out of the shower. She got dressed, thinking only of which outfit to wear, a button down green blouse and a pleated black skirt with red sandals. Then she put on her makeup, the mask that hid her true face, fooling the world into thinking she was fine.

She wished she was fine. When other people saw her they thought she was happy. They thought she was kind. They thought she was strong. She wanted to be what they thought of her, she wanted to be Feliciano's _"sorella",_ she wanted to be Feliks's best friend, she wanted to be Romania's enemy, she wanted to be Ludwig's...

...big sister...right?

Somehow that answer seemed wrong. She pictured him in her mind, tall, sculpted almost. He certainly had grown since his childhood, even since being a lanky teenager. His expression had changed too. That was probably Feliciano's fault; his eyes had grown just a little more expressive. He became just a little more vulnerable. It was something rather endearing she thought, but knew he'd hate it if she told him that.

Elizaveta wondered if she had more romantic than sisterly feelings for him. That was entirely possible; she had a tendency to fall for her friends. She'd slept with Feliks before he confessed to Toris, she had a fling with Feliciano after he broke up with Ludwig, and then of course there was Gilbert. He was the only one she'd been with at the same time she was with Roderich.

Oh Roderich. Now that she thought of him she could only feel that horrible ache in her chest. Did she love him? Or was it hate? At times she was sure she hated him. How many times has she seen him with someone else? She'd stopped fighting with him about it...for the most part. Instead she drank her sorrows away. She supposed he thought he knew everything about her, but he didn't know this side of her. He didn't know that he'd broken her when so many others had failed. He didn't know because he wouldn't care.

She contemplated visiting him, but decided against it, she always planned things days ahead to hopefully avoid running into his other guests. At least in public he belonged to her so at meetings she had him to herself. She could wait until the next meeting to see him.

It seemed wrong to just sit home and mope about though. She decided to call Feliks. He was always available to take her shopping, sometimes she wondered if he was living vicariously through her by using her as a doll.

Soon she found herself driving to his house in a matter of minutes. She really liked driving because she didn't have to think about anything but driving. Just focus on the road, the engine, the wheels, the people on the sidewalk, the children playing soccer in that field. Don't think about- What was that?

Her car had just made a gargling noise. What was going on? She drove off the road into a gas station. She was somewhere in Germany...of all the places..

She was referred to the nearest mechanic. He was rather young looking youth who seemed to be very enthusiastic about body piercings and not enthusiastic enough about acne medicine. His price for parts and labor made Elizaveta want to punch him, but she agreed.

Unfortunately, she would be stuck here for a good two days, he apologized. Unfortunately a chipper receptionist also informed her that the local hotels were closed for some local convention or festival. Unfortunately there were no local train stations or busses. Unfortunately in the midst of all this it started to rain.

Never in her life had Elizaveta so wanted to curl up and cry. This was just an awful day.

Fortunately at that moment someone unexpected walked into the mechanic's office. Fortunately that someone knew Elizaveta well enough to offer her a place to stay. Fortunately he seemed to have forgotten whatever had made him so cold at the meeting two weeks ago. Fortunately when they left together, the sun came up.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Guys! Stop reading this fic and go read Wonderland Records, I like that one a lot more! Plus it's fluffy! All of you are masochists for reading Second Chance and this fic! __AAAAAHHHHH anyway...this chapter is weird, I kind of manipulated things to make the plot move along, i wouldn't say anyone is ooc, just that suddenly people's feelings change for like no reason, while this doesn't really happen very often in literature because ironically people want to be "realistic" I've noticed it does kind of happen in real life, where one day someone feels some way and then in a moment they feel differently, anyway i'm rambling. Review, because even though you're all masochists, I want to know what you think :P _**

Chapter four

Ludwig was doing his best to be cordial. However, this was rather difficult, because no matter how he looked at it he must be in love with the woman sitting next to him. Every time he looked at her his heart skipped a beat, every time he thought of her he found it hard to breathe, every time she smiled he smiled back, even if she wasn't looking at him. This began after the London meeting, he had no idea why. It wasn't as if he'd seen her in particularly romantic circumstances. If anything he should find her completely revolting.

But he didn't. He worked very hard to keep looking at the road not back at her. At the last meeting he'd completely blocked her out, hoping this would make him forget her. Now he felt bad about it, so he'd offered to let her stay with him after her car broke down. He'd only been in town because the mechanic happened to have some parts he needed.

At the moment she was talking to Poland, sighing and rolling her eyes, "No…Feliks! Don't! He's going to dump you if you keep doing this...oh shut up that's none of your business!...We'll go shopping next weekend…oh quit complaining…You act like I traipse around naked everywhere! I do not!...you're disgusting….this is why Ludwig is the only one with any money….How am I supposed to go fix your lights when I'm in GERMANY!" then she blushed, "Oh shut up you pervert!...alright I'll see you next weekend…that's if I have enough money to pay for this stupid car…yeah yeah, seeya."

Ludwig cleared his throat, "Everything alright there?"

"Yes," She sighed leaning against the seat, "You have no idea how much I owe you."

He chuckled nervously.

"I think God is punishing me sometimes," she groaned.

"For what?"

"I don't know, but it must have been bad…"

"Sorry about that."

"Yeah well."

Their conversation came to a halt. Ludwig stole glances at her every once in a while. She seemed completely focused on looking out the window, her forehead pressed to the glass, her neck stretched out, with tendrils of hair curling about it. He almost wanted to reach out and…no! Don't think that way! He looked at her again and realized her eyes were closed. Was she asleep?

"Fraulin…" He touched her shoulder gently. She sat up instantly.

"Wh-what?"

"We're here…" He gestured for her to get out of the car.

"Oh right, of course." she mumbled. She opened the door and slid out of the seat in one fluid movement. He followed her and walked to the door. In the three hours it had taken them to reach his house it had gotten dark, and now the moon was just rising. Perhaps if they hadn't arrived so late things would be different, but as it was the moonlight fell perfectly on Elizaveta, highlighting her white forehead and neck. Her green eyes looked at him luminously, two perfect emeralds.

He knew she was in love with someone else. He knew he shouldn't be feeling this way for someone who was essentially family to him. He knew it was potentially insulting to his brother's memory. He knew she had problems, problems he couldn't fix. He knew that if he started something things would never go back to the way they were.

He didn't care.

He pulled her close to him, and pressed his lips to hers, softly at first, but then upon finding himself accepted, hungrily. He dropped his keys, forgetting them, and held her body against his. Desire coursed through his body. This feeling was completely foreign to him. It was different from when he was with Feliciano. Then there were only sweet, innocent feelings, but now, they were a fiery chaos of lips and teeth.

She finally broke away, gasping for air. So many emotions were in her expression that she mirrored him. "What are we doing?"

"I…I'm sorry," Shame finally made its appearance as Ludwig blushed darkly.

Sweetly she draped an arm on his shoulder, "Don't apologize."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" He kissed her wrist.

"Why did you do that?" She asked, trying to stay calm, analyzing the situation.

"Because I wanted to," The answer sounded quiet.

"I like you a lot…" She smiled a bit, "enough to want you to kiss me again."

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers softly, then just as quickly pulled away. Her smile grew, but then turned into a frown. "This is wrong."

"Why do you say that?"

"I can't…" She looked at her feet and stepped away, "I can't leave Roderich…I've tried…but…I can't."

He now frowned too, "Why?"

"I...I guess I love him," She didn't seem too confident. "He…he needs me."

Ludwig knew he would regret his words before he said them, "I don't care then."

"What?" Her eyes widened.

"Stay with him, I don't care."

"Don't lie to yourself…"

"I'll do what I want," He replied coolly.

"I don't want to do the same thing to you that Roderich's done to me." She looked at him, her eyes begged for him to understand.

"So you're just going to do what you did to my brother?" It was a low blow, he was desperate now. Something told him not to let her go. She looked at him strangely. He continued, "I'm an adult, I'm allowed to choose for myself who to love. I'm going to want you anyway whether you agree to stay with me or not. Austria doesn't care, he said so himself…the only person you're hurting is yourself. Don't ask me to watch that."

Elizaveta crossed her arms, unable to argue. She sighed, giving in. "Alright. You and I are officially cheating on Austria."

"R-really?" That seemed too easy.

"Well we'll all probably end up killing each other in some sort of murder suicide anyway," She sighed, picking up his keys and unlocking the house, "So we might as well go out with a bang."

_Lol If you include the chapter four at the top this chapter is exactly 999 words. I'm kind of hating this fic at this point, but I really love this couple so I want to finish it. Basically I didn't really know what to do with the plot here. OH WELL _

_^.^ please review and such~_


	5. Chapter 5

**_Woo hoo! Last chapter ^^ To the one that requested lemons-I AM A GOOD GIRL I DON'T WRITE THAT KIND OF THING . Anyway...for some reason you all liked this fic or at least the ones who reviewed did, if you didn't review your opinion does not matter to me :P, anyway, I personally didn't like it because it wasn't my best writing and i try only to produce my best...I really like this pairing, so I'll probably write more with it. I really like Wonderland Records though, so seriously go read it! A long time ago i wrote like the spazziest spamano fic so I'll try to dig that up for you, anyway, hope you like the ending thanks for all your lovely reviews go read my other fics, also if you want me to write something for you, send me a message or tell me in reviews, I absolutely love prompts and i can work with most pairings^^ _**

Chapter Five

"_During the meetings," she said softly, curling up against him, "I'll belong to him, but the rest of the time…I'll be yours." _

Two months. She hadn't had a drop of alcohol in two months. She'd promised herself not to let him know about this problem. She wouldn't burden him with this problem. She would become stronger, and conquer it all on her own.

The meeting was in Vienna this time. Before she might have come a day early and spent the whole week in Austria, but she hadn't called Roderich once in the last two weeks. She barely even thought of him. For once she understood how he could just forget her when he was with other people. She wondered if she'd end up telling him what she'd been up to, despite promising herself she wouldn't. Would she even care about him anymore? It was so easy to forget him. She used to think about him every day.

She checked the clock. Ten minutes late. The meeting wouldn't have started, but most everyone would already have arrived. She smiled brightly upon entering the meeting room. It seemed cruel of her to torture Ludwig by waving or saying hello, but she didn't really want to talk to Roderich –who was staring, almost glaring at her, a mixture of anger and relief on his face—just yet so she decided to sit next to Feliciano. Unfortunately the seat to her left was the only one not taken. That bastard Romania was forced to sit next to her. The topic of the meeting somehow changed into a debate about whether or not that guy was a vampire. Just another happy meeting.

Ludwig managed to keep himself under control for the duration of the meeting. He leaned against his car. Was she only avoiding Austria to save him pain? Something about her seemed stronger. Maybe she would dump him…no don't think things like that…don't get your hopes up…

He reached into his pocket…which was….empty? Where were his keys? He dug through his briefcase. Damn! He must have left them in the meeting room, how could he be so absent minded? He rushed back inside without thinking. However he had to stop at the door, hearing voices.

"Roderich what are you doing?"

"Kissing you, I haven't seen you in a month…"

"Well stop, someone might see."

"I don't care! It's not a crime!"

"I thought you were the one who cherishes decency."

"What is going on with you?"

"I'm not in the mood," She sounded annoyed.

"Are you mad about something?"

"I don't know," There was a sound like someone jumping off a table. "Why don't you ask Switzerland?"

"Vash? I haven't seen him since…"

"Since I caught you together? Oh how sad, you should give him a call."

"Elizaveta! Honestly, do you think that's funny?" His voice was pleading.

"Let go of me, _Roderich." _She said the name like an insult. Things were silent, Ludwig wondered if he should still be standing here.

"Elizaveta…Please…"

"I told you I didn't want to."

"Stay, stay with me…" he was begging still.

"I have things to do." Footsteps neared the door. Ludwig panicked and opened the door, pretending to have just stumbled in on them. Elizaveta was a few feet from her other lover. He looked like he'd just seen a ghost. She smiled at first, then blushed. "S-szia Ludwig, something you need?"

"I, um," he walked around the room and picked up his keys, "I left these here, I'll just be going."

"I'll go with you," She smiled and used the opportunity to take his hand and leave the room. When they were far enough away from the meeting room she leaned against him, "So…what did you hear?"

"I think you're being rather mean to someone you claim to love so much that you can't possibly leave him," Ludwig looked down at her.

She sighed, "Things are different now."

"Did you drive here?" He asked, stroking her hand with his thumb, "Maybe we could do something together."

"I took the train," She smiled, "What did you have in mind?"

He smiled back; they spent most of the days—and nights—together, sometimes in Hungary, sometimes in Germany, but always together. Once she even came over so that they could do paperwork together. They spent hours of silence just to sit in the same room.

They reached his car. She glanced back at the building. "I think I'm a bad person."

"You're just figuring this out now?" He sat in the driver's seat. She slid in next to him, and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"I'm going to do better now," She smiled, "I like being with you."

"Ja?" He blushed a bit.

"_Ja." _She laughed. It always struck him how her German had an Austrian accent. It should annoy him, but instead he found it endearing.

"Then you should stick to one man, mien leibe," he started the car.

Rather than looking hurt or delivering a cold retort, she looked forward, "Yes…I know…"

He frowned a bit, "Are you feeling alright?"

"I don't know," She smiled a bit. "Is falling out of love really this easy?"

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing…"

"Roderich," She was dressed in black, her hair was braided and it fell over her shoulder in one long snake.

"Oh Hallo," He was surprised to see her. Usually she called. "Come in, please."

"I'm not staying for long," She stepped into the foyer. "I just wanted to tell you something."

He frowned. She was acting strange again, "Oh? And what might that be?"

They walked into the living room. She bit her bottom lip girlishly, "Sit down."

"Alright…" He sat on the sofa.

She looked at him and took a deep breath, "I've been cheating on you for six months. I didn't intend to tell you this," she paused, "but circumstances have changed."

"What?" He braced himself, knowing what was coming next.

"I'm sorry dear, but…I don't really love you anymore." She sighed, "I should have stopped loving you long ago, but it took my own sins to make me lose interest."

"Elizaveta…surely this is just a passing thing," He mumbled.

"No," She looked at him, only pity in her eyes, "I'm sorry but it's over, for real this time." She took something out of her pocket and placed it in his hand. "I'm leaving you, I hope you can find someone else, but if not…well that's life."

She left as quickly as she'd come. He opened his hand and saw a tiny golden ring. He sighed; he knew this day would come. He'd never thought she'd be unfaithful though. It pained him a little to know she'd become as twisted as himself.

He poured himself a cup of tea, wishing to god he wasn't destined to be alone.


End file.
